


You Don't Know Me but I Know Your Soul

by Solbear



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Body Sharing, Character Death, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Female Frisk, First Person, Fluff, Genocide Chara, M/M, Older Frisk, POV Chara, POV Sans, POV Third Person, Pacifist Frisk, Possession, Reader Is Chara, Reader Is Frisk, Sans Has Issues, Sans-centric, Time Travel, Timelines, Violence, sans knows everything
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-05-19 14:06:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5969791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solbear/pseuds/Solbear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*Welcome to my very first fanfic. Undertale stole my soul :3 Originally I was going to attempt to stick as close to canon as possible, but its decided to go a different but similar direction. Expect changing tags as it goes on. Sorry if there's grammatical issues, I'll try to edit as best I can when I look back over it. Feel free to make suggestions ^_^*</p><p>Sans is aware of  all the different timelines.<br/>Going to be switching between Frisk/Sans/Chara POV<br/>Frisk meets a out-of-timeline Sans.<br/>Fate never gave her a choice.</p><p>Surface: 1-5<br/>Ruins 6-7<br/>Snowdin ?-?<br/>Waterfall ?-?<br/>Hotland ?-?<br/>New Home ?-?<br/>Surface(?) ?-?<br/>May become a series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. All I Ever Wanted

**Author's Note:**

> Intro to everyone's favorite skeleman.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Intro to everyone's favorite skeleman

~~*~~

I dreamed of a bed of yellow buttercups beneath my back. An open hole above me shone with stars, while grass blades peeked in along the edge.

**_Well shit. That wasn’t supposed to happen._ **

_~~*~~_

I jolted, waking from my nap on the couch.

**_That’s the third time this week that I’ve had that dream._               **

I laid back down, wondering what the hell was going on with my REM cycle. It seemed that almost as soon as I went to go to sleep, I was immediately shoved into the recurring dream. All that ever seemed to register in my mind was the thought that I'd gotten into an accident by managing to fall into a giant hole, and landing on a bed of flowers beneath my back - buttercups to be exact.  I rolled over to look at the clock above the T.V. and noticed a glint of something shiny that hadn’t been there before. As I got closer, I realize that it’s some kind of necklace, with a blue heart on the middle of a silver chain. It was cold as ice, with the chains resembling the shape of little bones.

**_Where the hell did this come from? No one besides me has been in here and I would’ve seen it when I watched it earlier today … creepy._ **

It looked similar to my own necklace with a red heart as a pendant instead of blue, and an ornate Celtic silver chain. The blue heart emanated a calming feeling, but not enough to fully shake off the weirdness from finding it. Intertwining it with my own the note that it had covered became visible, turning it over revealed the cryptic message

*You don’t know me

*But I know your soul

*And so I bring you mine, in hopes that you will find what has been lost

at the end, a little skeleton head had been drawn in the corner

**_Well then._ **

The note itself was stained yellow and smelled of different kinds of flowers, reminding me of my hikes around the local mountain – Mt. Ebott. Most of it had been closed off to tourists and locals, but some decent hiking trails were popularly used. The biggest reason for the closing had been the spread of local legends citing a tale of monsters that lived underground, most of whom were dangerous with magical abilities. A few children had disappeared mysteriously from nearby towns, usually one every twenty years or so. One hadn’t disappeared in a while – but Mt.Ebott had taken the blame for the disappearances mostly because their bodies had never been found. Whomever had written the note had also managed to get inside a house that was generally always locked, which left an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach. The splotches of color and fragrance on the note pointed towards a mystery with Mt. Ebott - hopefully you'd get your answers there. Having been unable to make time to go for a hike in the past few weeks, this was the perfect excuse to make a trip. Stepping out into the cool sunshine while and breathing heavily, the wafting smell of lavender mixed with clean linen began to settle the anxieties that were beginning to build up.

 

~

 

I'd never felt like the life I lived belonged to me. The world had always felt a little distant and cold, like I'd never belonged here in the first place. People always made it a point to stay away from me. The few friends that I had made over the years had slowly disappeared from my life leaving no trace that they had been there in the first place.

**_No need to dwell on such lonely topics Frisk._ **

As the sights and sounds of civilization faded, the comforting and familiar sounds of birds and wildlife enveloped me. It felt like home.

**_A home I never had._ **

My childhood was long and blurry. Moving from foster home to foster home, never really being fully welcomed by the already existing family. So I bounced around until I got out of the system when I turned 18. The world was a big and scary place, but I’d managed to hold down a part time job at a local restaurant and stay in subsidized housing. I had never been able to track down the original adoption agency – or my birth records for that matter. All that had come from my birth parents had been a name – Frisk – and the old silver necklace with the red heart pendant.

 

~

 

Shaking off old memories, I pursued the worn down path ahead. The intertwined necklaces started to warm up and emit a red and blue glow. Out of the corner of my eye I catch a figure looking at me; as if specifically waiting for me to cross its path, although being hidden in darkness it was difficult to make out the features.

“*Hey there kid”

“*I see you found your way here”

“*You seem rather _bone-_ ly”

 The voice was definitely male, apparently with a penchant for puns

 _“_ Uhhh. Hi there _”_

The figure stepped out into the light. He wore a puffy blue jacket with a white undershirt, black shorts and puffy white … slippers?

“*Don’t you know how to greet a new pal?”

I took his outstretched hand in a bewildered shake

      **_PBBLLlllggggghhhhh...hhhh...hhh..h_ **

“*Heh … the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick”

“*It’s _always_ funny”

**_Why do I feel like I’ve groaned at this prank before?_ **

The stranger took off his hood, and a flood of shock, confusion and a bit of déjà vu crashed down upon me. The stranger wasn’t a human – but instead a skeleton. Large sunken eye sockets with white pinpricks as irises, and an enormous grin plastered on his face, although it didn’t quite seem like it was completely genuine.

The stranger glanced from my face to my chest, where the necklaces were hidden underneath my jacket and the glow had managed to peek through.

“*My name is Sans. Sans the skeleton.”

The pinpricks of light faded from his eyes turning them completely black.

“*I believe you have something that belongs to me”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited for clarity, probably shouldn't type as fast as I think and not without proofreading xD  
> Comments and suggestions welcome~


	2. Across Time and Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of back story on Sans in this universe since canon is sadly lacking an official one. An extended version of events from the first chapter in Sans POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to dig deeper into canon Sans head, but unfortunately that's not possible. So welcome to my version of how I think Sans's mind works. I think I'll likely be breaking up a lot of chapters split between POV's of Chara/Frisk and Sans rather than whole chapters separately.  
> I love Sans puns yet have difficulty writing my own. Apologies in advance.  
> Loved it? Hated it? Suggestions? Comment away.

It had been quite a while since he had to leave home to interfere with other timelines. Most times they went smoothly with the seventh child falling down in the ruins, but never hurting another soul – monster or otherwise. However, occasionally something went wrong. Sometimes the seventh child was not the Frisk he knew. Sometimes Chara completely took over Frisks soul resulting in total death of everyone in the underground. Usually he was able to get word to Alphys before the child got near Snowdin, to be able to keep everyone safe. The disappearance of Toriel was almost always a sign that Chara had begun to surface, stealing her DETERMINATION and corrupting her soul.

This Frisk was different - she had never fallen into Mt. Ebott in the first place. Somewhere under that mountain, another Sans was telling bad puns to an exasperated Papyrus. Toriel would be checking the ruins to see if there had been any fallen humans. Undyne would be prowling the ruins and texting Alphys about her day. A twinge of homesickness settled in the bottom of non-existent stomach. In his timeline, everyone was already free and on the surface, living once again amongst humans. His Frisk had been an ambassador to the humans, paving the way for their freedom.

Time seemed to move differently for monsters, able to live almost double the length of humans – likely because DETERMINATION took more of a toll on a human soul than magic took on monster souls. Sans wasn’t even sure if him and Papy could die from natural causes, lacking organs and all but they certainly took precautions.

Sans eyed the napping Frisk in front of him. She was certainly older than his Frisk, but still had the messy mop of brown hair atop her head. He fingered the necklace underneath his sweater, a blue heart with bone links as the chain. Very few monsters had enough DETERMINATION to be able to withstand more than a few hits from a human seeking to kill them, and Sans was one of them. A very long time ago, and a few hundred timelines away there was a time when Sans and his older brother Gaster had created a small object that was powerful enough to be able to absorb a monsters essence before the body turned to dust.

 

~~*~~

A few timelines away from Sans original timeline, Chara had come out to play with the underground again. Sans had seen every battle, every death – his brothers, his friends and his own hundreds of times. That time had been different – if he interfered he’d face the risk of losing more than one timeline and having to sit idly by again. So he’d sat and waited for the familiar Judgement hall scene to play out. As the killing blow was struck and his timeline twin slowly shuffled away, asking Papy if he’d like anything from Grillby’s, Sans saw his cue. He flooded the hallway with his blue magic freezing time, keeping the demon at bay. Chara’s wicked grin and soulless eyes were plastered onto her face as soon as she had realized her victory. This time however, her victory was only going to last a short while. As Sans approached his timeline twin, he winced at the slice across his sternum. He brought out the empty glass heart and bottled the soul essence that had begun to escape from his body. The heart shone a bright blue, and flickered with power, resting just above Sans own soul.

“Prepare to be judged” Sans snarled, opening a shortcut and erasing the entire timeline with the largest Gaster Blaster he was able to create.

 

**_First time in a long time that it’s come to this and the last for as long as I live_. _Just as I’d promised all those years ago._**

 

~~*~~

Frisk had turned over in her sleep, muttering incoherent words under her breath. Sans breath caught in his chest – there was an almost identical necklace around Frisks neck, except it was blood red instead of blue.

**_How did – how did she get a hold of this? There were only a few soul hearts made, and they’re all sitting in my coat pocket._ **

The necklace shone brightly, no traces of the blackness that was Chara’s effect on Frisks soul. Sans felt the power whirring deep within the heart, making him wince slightly.

**_It’s definitely the same as the ones we made. This is … unexpected._ **

With a slight frown Sans took the note he’d prepared and placed it in a semi noticeable place from where she laid. He’d noticed that she had taken an interest in Mt. Ebott, hiking around the base of the mountain, sometimes having a weekend campout. Placing his necklace on top of the note, he took one last look around the room and at Frisk. She was lonely, but at least she was safe.

For now.

~~*~~

 

All of his time spent waiting in sentry stations lent Sans a certain amount of patience, and the ability to melt into the background unnoticed until he desired. She looked much more peaceful as she continued along her hike, with none of the jagged lines of worry across her face that she had when she was fitfully sleeping.

“*Hey there kid”

Breaking through her reverie, it was enough to stop her dead in her tracks. Sans chuckled.

“*I see you found your way here”

“*You seem rather _bone-_ ly”

A grimace washes over her face, and she scrunches her face up as if remembering Sans – or rather his bad pun – from a different time. Stepping out into the light with an outstretched hand, bewilderment emerges as the dominant expression.

“*Don’t you know how to greet a new pal?”

Gingerly taking Sans hand in a half shake doesn’t help the confusion

 

> **_PBBLLlllggggghhhhh_ **

“*Heh … the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. It’s always funny”

Frisk’s mouth turns upward at the edges, with a tiny giggle.

Stepping out into the light, and removing his hood, shock makes her jaw drop as she realizes that whoever she was talking to wasn’t exactly human.

“*I’m Sans. Sans the skeleton.”

Darkening his eyes for the dramatic effect, he pointed and whispered

“*And I believe you have something that belongs to me”

Not that he’d spent a whole lot of time studying humans besides what he needed to learn about DETERMINATION, but he’d never seen a humans face cycle through emotions as fast as Frisk did. Seeing the look of pure terror was a first.

“*Kid … kid” he laughed

“*You just looked like you were _dying_ to see me”

Re-emergence of that faint smile was a good sign that even across time and space, Frisk still enjoyed Sans bad puns.

 


	3. Was to Show You the Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undertale backstory~ and some answers for Frisk underneath the stars.

I’d seen a lot of strange things in the measly 22 short years of my life, but none of those had prepared me for the shock of a pun cracking skeleton. At least the mystery of _who_ left the note and necklace in my house was answered, but not yet why.

“So why’d you leave the necklace?”

With dimmed eyes and a beckoning hand, Sans continued along the less trodden path

“* _Lettuce_ walk” He said, looking back and winking

“*somewhere below this mountain, is a whole bunch of monsters, just like me. They’ve spent their whole lives trapped underground waiting to be free.”

“So the legends are true then.”

The fence separating the restricted and non-restricted parts of the mountain began to come into view. Sans interlocked a bony hand in the chains of the fence and sighed.

The path ahead was one you’d never seen before; it looked as if it had been generally left undisturbed. Sans walked surprisingly fast for a small skeleton with just slippers on his feet, trudging through the thick grass and scattered branches. The clearing began to show itself until you both stood in a small field of colorful flowers, a cliff face around the circling edge. The small town you often wished to escape looming down below.

“*I was hoping to be the one to show you the flowers” Sans whispered, seemingly to himself

“*I’ve been watching you for a while, Frisk” he stated while watching the sun begin to set along the horizon. It splashed everything in a golden hue, even his slick face picked up some of the hue.

“*This place feels like home to you, and in reality the feelings not wrong. A soul always remembers where it came from … and where it’s headed.”

“*Now sit, you have a long story ahead of you”

Laying down amongst the flowers a calmness began to spread, something you hadn’t felt in a very long time. With his voice flowing as gently as the breeze and threatening to send you to sleep, he began.

 

~

 

It had been a long time since he’d had the opportunity to just … experience the surface. Although you never got hot or cold per say, temperature differences were noticeable but never unpleasant. It was nice to enjoy something as simple as a sunset, with a human marked for power that could rival your own.

“*A couple hundred years ago, monsters and humans waged a war against each other. Humans, hearts filled with DETERMINATION were much stronger than any one monster, save a few. Magic and dust are the culmination of our being but magic doesn’t stand a chance against a heart filled with hatred. Rather than choose to be slaughtered by hate, we decided that fleeing underground was the only way to survive. With the will of seven of your strongest people, the barrier entombed us with no escape. The only way out boiled down to being a monster in possession of a human soul – a terrible; powerful being or breaking the barrier with seven human souls.”

“ _Seven_ human souls?” she asked, her reverie broken

With his hands behind his head staring at the darkening starlit sky, he mumbled “*All the monsters souls together are equal to the power of around one human soul. We can’t break the barrier by ourselves, so we’re stuck down there in almost every timeline. A few timelines exist where the war never happened or others where civilization moved on and completely forgot about us – enough that humans never settled near here. Enough so that the legends once used to keep children away from Mt. Ebott dropped completely from societal memory.”

Rolling over to face him, her face filled with curiosity and apprehension “You never did answer my question, Sans”

“*There’s an anomaly in this timeline, and you’re it” he said, rolling over to face her

“*In almost every timeline, a young kid named Frisk falls down the hole to the underground, where six have already fallen. But you didn’t, and although you consider Mt. Ebott home never once did you find its secret and fulfill your fate. So what happened kid?”

“I wasn’t born here … or maybe I was. But my parents never wanted me, and I bounced around foster homes until I got out of the system. Mt. Ebott has been the only constant so it became my refuge, although this is the first time I’ve ever been to this part” she gestured

Night had begun to set, with a full moon and stars lighting the world around them.

“I was found outside a church with the necklace around my neck with a note that said my name was Frisk – no last name” she said quietly “and you’re still avoiding the question”

“*Well Frisk with no last name sometimes an evil takes over a timeline, contorting it until it’s no longer recognizable. My job is to prevent that, starting with that soul of mine”

Standing up abruptly, Frisks face drained of color

“What do you mean _your_ soul?!”

“*Do you remember what I said of evil within a timeline? Well … at the end of such, lies me. I am the surface guardian, ensuring that evil is kept from walking among the innocents. But sometimes I fail, and before the timeline I was watching over was erased, I captured my soul essence in that heart before I had died, in order to save you from what may come”

 

~

 

The last thing I saw was the image of his left hand and eye blazing, a light blue filling the small overhang before everything turned a blissfully silent black.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me a few days to get the scene the way I wanted it to go, with a lot of erasing and rewriting.  
> Inspired and written while listening to the Undertale soundtrack song: Don't Give Up  
> Hope you enjoyed it~  
> Comments and suggestions welcomed :)  
> The previous two chapters are going to be edited for clarity this weekend. So if you've read those, check back in a few days.


	4. That Echoed Your Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MOAR BACKSTORY  
> Let's start a slow burn, shall we?

_Frisk_

The echo of her name still lingered in the breeze, frolicking in petals and dancing through leaves. He’d sworn he’d seen the return of his brother, his silhouette sanding just behind her. Without time to react Sans had summoned his magic, causing Gaster to disappear instantly but giving Frisk enough of a shock to pass out.

Checking to see that no major damage had been done, he picked up Frisk’s limp body and stepped into the shortcut that led to her house. Laying her down as gently as he could onto the couch, thoughts of the night and the predicament that he now faced raced through his mind.

~~*~~

“My dear brother” he said, talking more to the papers in front of him than Sans himself “May I ask what the purpose of your visit here today is?”

“*Any particular reason you’re planning to leave me and Papy on our own, no warning or goodbye?” Sans snarled

“Well Sans” he replied “The insatiable thirst for knowledge stops for nobody, not even me. The power of DETERMINATION to SAVE and RESET are one of the last few questions that we have no answer for”

“Besides, you’re old enough to take care of your brother. I’m sure that Asgore would see it fit for you to replace me – motivating those lazy-bones of yours enough to figure out how to break the barrier.”

“*That was never MY dream – ALWAYS yours. So why don’t you stay here, and figure it out YOURSELF” Sans raged, against the skeleton that had suddenly poof’d out of the room.

*UGH

He pounded his bony fists against the dusty wall of the lab, frustration causing the blue flames to erupt from his left eye and hands, enveloping him in an unstable cloud of magic.

**_*I’M NOT READY_ **

“Sans.”

He spun around and became instantly frozen in place with Gaster’s magic. Tendrils of light orange and dark blue flickered around him, eventually forcing his own magic to die.

“Now is the time where we learn to grow up and _accept your fate_ ”

Everything went black.

~~*~~

Raw anger licked his soul every time the memory resurfaced, causing Sans to need a new wardrobe whenever it did. Magic became unpredictable and often overpowering in times of extreme emotion, burning flammable things to a crisp. Willing himself to calm down and to not disturb Frisk more than he already had, he sunk into the beanbag chair in the corner hoping the relief of sleep would ease his troubled soul for a while.

~

Frisk felt like she’d been hit with a train – no, make that a hundred trains, one after another. Stumbling into the kitchen looking for some kind of pain relief, a flashback of last night horrifyingly replaying itself was enough to question how she managed to get back home. Sure enough, the beanbag chair in the corner was filled with a certain sleeping skeleton. Remembering the anger that contorted his face when he gazed at a point just above her, and the magic that had flared up had been the straw that broke the camels’ back of shock for the day.

“S-Sans”

An eye socket lazily opened to glance at Frisk.

“*Yes, kid?”

“What happened last night?”

The eye socket closed again.

“*I don’t want to talk about it”

“ _Sans”_

A groan of reluctance, and he sat up straighter in the chair.

“*An old … friend decided to show up out of nowhere. I haven’t seen or heard from him in hundreds of timelines, and yet he waits until the one that had the largest fate changing anomaly in it to finally show his bone-headed skull” he spat.

“Didn’t end on cordial terms, eh?”

“*Difficult to do when they decide to shatter their soul for the purpose of becoming lost among time and space, while abandoning you and your brother”

“So the blue magic-“

“*A “gift” bestowed upon just another one of his experiments”

“ _Show me”_

His eyes flew open, not used to such curiosity with his magic. He shrugged, his left eye and hand glowing an intense blue. Smirking, he lifted Frisk gently into the air, much to her chagrin.

“*heh. Playing with gravity did turn out to be fun though”

~

Seeing the flush in her cheeks made the shit he was probably going to receive worth it, he’d decided.

“SANS!” she yelled, as soon as she’d been safely put back down onto the couch

“*heh heh heh”

Another stab of homesickness pierced his gut. He needed to get this girl down into the underground ASAP, the fridge-full of condiments was calling his name and the new Mettaton show had just been released.

“*so kid. Are you ready to start getting tangled in fate?”

She drew in a long breath and sighed. “I guess I have a whole bunch of monsters counting on me, I don’t really have a choice in the end.”

“It was nice meeting you Sans” she whispered quietly

**_Don’t get attached, Sans. She’s not your Frisk._ **

“*It was nice meeting you too … sweetheart”

He took her hand noticing the striped shirt that all the Frisks seemed to have a fondness for, and walked through a shortcut that led to just in front of the underground entrance. It would’ve been difficult to see had someone not been paying attention to where they were walking as grass circled the outside obscuring the edge from view. Yellow blooms were visible on inside, hardy enough to be able to break a fall – accidental or purposely.

“*Ready?” he asked, squeezing her hand lightly

She nodded once.

And in she flew, like the fabled angel of mercy.

 

**O R  A N  A N G E L  O F  D E A T H**

 

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also happen to be a sucker for cliffhangers :3  
> Comments and suggestions welcome~


	5. They Called You an Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Thank you guys for your kind comments and suggestions. They made me so happy :'D*  
> Now let's make some timeline fanon.

And just like that she was gone.

Sans was relieved, knowing she would befriend the others; be taken care of and free from the demon. With his job finished, it was finally time to go home. If Gaster showed himself again in the underground, they had plenty of magic to stop him down there. Stepping through the shortcut home however, he noticed something strange. It had become completely devoid of light, with a firm wall blocking his exit.

**_What the hell?_ **

Magic at the ready, Sans turned around so fast that blue blocked his vision for a few moments.

“Why Sans, so lovely for you to show up again brother.”

Two cracks around his hollowed eyes, and a pair of disembodied hollowed hands were all that remained of the once intimidating and powerful figure.

“*We’re not brothers. You relinquished that title a long time ago”

“Oh did I now? I seem to remember things a little bit … _differently”_

_~~*~~_

Sans struggled to remember a time when Papyrus _didn’t_ act like the responsible older brother. When Gaster was appointed the position of Royal Scientist he began spending less and less time at home. With Sans being the lazy bag of bones that he was, the responsibility fell to Papyrus who filled the positon with honors. Although Sans tried to conceal his worries as best as he could, Papyrus always seemed to know when storms brewed behind his unwavering grin. He couldn’t fill Gaster’s shoes, but he’d be damned if Papyrus was going to get hurt by Gaster’s mistakes ever again.

Sans hadn’t wanted to make it official but after the stunt in the lab yesterday, he needed to make sure that Papy understood who Gaster _really_ was.

“SANS, YOU’RE HOME EARLY. ARE YOU SLACKING OFF AGAIN?” Papyrus yelled into the house, cape flying behind him

“*Nah bro, Undyne let me have a half day. But uh … Pap, we need to talk”

“ARE YOU RUNNING A FEVER SANS? YOU’RE NEVER SERIOUS, UNLESS IT’S A CLEVERLY HIDDEN SET UP FOR PUNS”

“*Something happened yesterday, Paps. It’s to do with Gaster; he’s … made it apparent it’s just going to be the two of us now.”

Papyrus’s fallen face etched itself into his mind, adding another grievance to the list against his AWOL brother.

~~*~~

“You see Sans, I merely made it possible for you to find your _own_ fate. For if I had not bestowed those powers to you and left, you’d still be stuck down in that hole for the rest of eternity”

Gaster shrunk into himself a bit when he became instantly surrounded by a series of the so called “Gaster Blasters”.

“Now now Sans no need to resort to violence, I’m only speaking the truth. At the end of my research I’d determined that although hundreds of timelines exist resulting from various differences – they all branched off of the one true timeline. You see, eventually all other timelines will once again converge into a single one – this one to be exact”

All the blasters disappeared, save for one. “*And you know this how, old man?”

“The math never lies, dear brother” he said, visibly relieved by the blasters removal.

“*So why can’t I go home then? I’ve been able to interfere and travel through hundreds, if not thousands of timelines to right wrongs and … serve proper justice when necessary.”

“The collapse has already begun, dear brother. You see, the difference between this and the others was well … the non-existence of Frisk and us. There’s only one of me that has ever existed in any of these timelines, and although I originated from one marked for doom I found a way to exist in _all of them._ Although my abilities that I possessed varied, most of soul managed to collect into this one. Fate … fate is a funny thing sometimes. And you Sans, you and Frisk aren’t all that different. A boy and a girl, plucked from the fickle hands of time and relocated where they were needed”

“Seven children fell, and all failed to leave the underground. One however, with enough determination could overcome the monsters innate mistrust and be strong enough to fight the fated demon within. Another, with almost as much power to deter the demon, and protect the rest monster and human life from the intent of utter destruction. Without both of you, almost all the timelines were doomed; I just … increased the probability of survival and happiness. Surely you can’t blame me for wanting that, in the end?”

Sans knew his origin story all too well – the pain of undergoing Gaster’s magic tests, eventually changing him into some sort of weird hybrid still occasionally gave him nightmares. Monster enough to be able to wield magic, human enough to be able to use it to distort space time.

“So please – go and follow your destiny that just fell down the rabbit hole. And I-I’m sorry if … I had found a way to spare you the pain I put you through to get to this point, I would’ve done it. I don’t regret this final ending, I just regret losing you and Papyrus. I don’t expect forgiveness; I just hope we… could end on agreeable terms”

The blazing blue flame that pushed past him into the night answered his question.

~

He could still see the blazing anger through his eye socket cracks. He’d changed thousands of futures in hundreds of timelines, all for the better and all from the work of his hands.

**_They had called her an angel._ _And it never even fucking mattered in the end._ **

With a final look at the starry night, he jumped in and hoped that the punchline of the joke that fate had decided to tell wouldn’t end with him getting dunked on.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this wasn't the way I'd planned for this chapter to go, but the Gaster/Sans dynamic speculation is a hard thing to deny. Happier times inbound :)  
> Suggestions/comments welcome~


	6. Of Mercy or Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk gets to experience the TUtoriel, Sans just gets to teleport through it. Blood! Memories! Puzzles! What more does a chapter need?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the week long plus delay. Life decided hit me all at once. I hope you guys enjoy the double chapter :3

**_My name is Frisk. I’m 23 years old. I met a bona-fide skeleton yesterday. I have his soul around my neck. I’m currently lying on a bed of buttercups. And I’m somehow supposed to free all the monsters from the underground._ **

Opening her eyes, Frisk could see the same cavern entrance that had been haunting her dreams. Everything was a replica – from the grass to the buttercups and even the silence. It felt strange, yet comforting. For the first time in her life she actually had a _reason_ to live. And maybe… maybe she’d finally make some friends.

She eyed a nearby stick, and picked it up – more so to have something to defend herself with rather than kill. The dark cavern – lit only by the tendrils of light flickering in from the gaping hole – continued for a ways. An ornate door to Frisks left led the way to an ominous room, with a patch of grass at its center. A single golden flower planted at its center, somehow sporting a weird smiley face.

**_Maybe it’s just decoration; it’s just a flower after all._ **

Spying another exit, Frisk managed a few steps forward before the flower sprang to life.

“Howdy! I’m FLOWEY. FLOWEY the FLOWER! Hmmmm… You’re new to the underground, aren’ tcha? Golly, you must be so confused. Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! I guess little old me will have to do. Ready? Here we go!”

Frisk stumbled back, a red heart ripped from her chest and floated in front of her.

“See that heart? That is your SOUL, the very culmination of your being!”

**_The … fuck?_ **

The world became black and white and Frisks heart was in the center of an inescapable boxed area. FRISK LV 1; and HP 20/20 appeared below, similar text shimmered from the opposite side for Flowey.

“Your SOUL starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV. Whats LV stand for? Why, LOVE, of course!”

**_A contorted smile_ **

“You want some LOVE don’t you?”

**_An ill-timed dodge_ **

“Don’t worry; I’ll share some with you!”

**_Pain slashed across her torso_ **

“Down here, LOVE is shared through…”

**_The HP meter fell to 0_ **

“Little white … “friendliness pellets”

**_The red soul shattered_ **

“Are you ready?”

**_The world went black_ **

Five pellets began to spin ominously above Flowey, spelling Frisks death.

“Move around! Get as many as you can!”

**_/Dodge._ **

Between the foreign flashbacks, the strange talking flower and the commanding voice, Frisk became disoriented. The pellets embedded into her soul; gashes beginning to spread across Frisks body while blood stained her clothes. Frisk fell to her knees, the HP bar dropping to 1/20.

**_/I told you to DODGE!_ **

“You idiot. In this world, its KILL or BE killed. Why would ANYONE pass up an opportunity like this!?”

A ring of white pellets surrounded the cut and bloodied soul, leaving Frisk with no chance to escape.

“Die.”

**_At least …_ **

The pellets moved forward. A few seconds later and Frisk would be dead.

**_… I got to make a friend._ **

Instead of the world disappearing, the silence roared in her ears. The gashes disappeared, faint scars taking their place. Opening her eyes, she saw a goat – like monster shoot flames at Flowey, where he cackled into the distance.

“What a terrible creature, torturing a poor, innocent youth…”

They wore a simple purple and white dress, a insignia sewn into the center – the same one that had been on the door before Flowey appeared.

“Ah, do not be afraid, my child” she said seeing the mistrust in Frisks eyes.

**_Considering a FLOWER just tried to kill me, I think it’s understandable to mistrust an animated, speaking goat monster_ **

**_/You … can trust her._ **

“I am TORIEL, caretaker of the RUINS. I pass through this place every day to see if someone has fallen down. You are the first human to come down here in a long time. Come! I will guide you through the catacombs”

As Frisks soul went back to its rightful place, the world regained its lost color. Not that there was a whole lot of color in this cavern. With a last look behind her, Frisk ran towards her future.

 

~

 

Autumn leaves were scattered around the grassy floor, brick walls taking over the rocky appearances from the cavern entrance. A small yellow star was visible in the middle of the staircase, evidently invisible to Toriel.

_(The shadow of the ruins looms above, filling you with determination)_

Frisk: LV 1 : (00: 27). Ruins – Entrance.

File saved.

**_File saved…?_ **

Toriel smiled patiently from the door, and with no easy answers, Frisk had no choice but to continue on.

“Welcome to your new home, innocent one. Allow me to educate you in the operation of the RUINS”

With that she stepped on four switches and pulled the lever, the door opening beside her.

“The ruins are full of puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and doorkeys. One must solve them to move from room to room. Please adjust yourself to the sight of them”

Only the fearless may proceed

Brave ones, foolish ones

Both walk not the middle road

**_Could I ever be fearless …?_ **

Fearing the return of Flowey, Frisk hurried on.

“To make progress here, you will need to trigger several switches. Do not worry, I have labeled the ones you need to flip.”

Rivers flowed beneath the bridges while vines grew along the walls. The golden levers were _clearly_ labeled. As the first lever was pulled, the spikes disappeared from behind Toriel.

**_I wonder what would happen if I –_ **

“No no no! You want to press the other switch. I even labelled it for you…”

**_Was worth a try._ **

“Splendid! I’m proud of you little one”

“Toriel, I’m not exactly little. I’m pretty much fully grown”

But her smile never faltered.

 

~

 

“As a human living in the UNDERGROUND, monsters may attack you. You will need to be prepared for this situation. However, worry not! The process is simple. When you encounter a monster, you will enter a FIGHT. While you are in a FIGHT, strike up a friendly conversation. Stall for time, I will come to resolve the conflict. Practice talking to the dummy”

The dummy looked unremarkable, bits of cloth sewn together with a simple face on a wooden stand.

The pull of the soul wasn’t as abrupt or painful this time but still just as disconcerting. Following Toriel’s advice, Frisk spoke to the dummy, but as expected it didn’t talk back. Toriel did seem happy though.

“Ah, very good! You are very good”

Frisk supposed she was.

“There is another puzzle in this room… I wonder if you can solve it?”

A slightly lighter path was visible, but no apparent puzzle that needed solving.

A Froggit came across Frisks path; she noticed the pull of her soul hurt less and less and the dizziness beginning to recede. This time however; FIGHT, ACT, ITEM and MERCY glowed in front of Frisk. Threaten didn’t feel right so… Frisk complimented them instead. They didn’t seem to understand what she had said, but seemed to understand the kind nature behind the words. Toriel soon came, shooting a look of disdain at Froggit, who slowly hopped away.

_(The western room is the eastern rooms blueprint)_

**_Simple enou-… annnnnndddddd it’s a room full of spikes_ **

“Toriel, what is it with the spikes?”

Her eyes slightly drooped, the smile wavered for a split second. She took Frisks hand, squeezing it slightly as they followed the western rooms pattern though the spikes.

“Puzzles seem a little too dangerous for now” Toriels demeanor back in its place

“You have done excellently thus far, my child. However … I have a difficult request of you. I would like you to walk to the end of the room by yourself. Forgive me for this”

**_/It’s a shame you’ll never really be alone_ **

**_Who are you?_ **

Besides the Flowey fight, the voice hadn’t made itself known, keeping to itself even if it had judgements of Frisks actions.

**_/I am … an old friend_ **

The voice refused to answer to further prodding, so Frisk followed the path ahead, sure that Toriel wouldn’t actually put them in any danger. A white pillar appeared in the distance, close to the exit and as suspected, Toriel never had put them in any danger.

“Greetings, my child. I did not leave you. I was simply behind this pillar the whole time. Thank you for trusting me. However, there was an important reason for this exercise … to test your independence. I must attend to some business, and you must stay alone for a while. Please remain here, it’s dangerous to go alone. I have an idea. I will give you a CELL PHONE. If you have a need for anything, just give me a call. Be good, alright?”

Frisk figured no harm would be done if she explored the ruins a little longer. A path to the left revealed a goblet of candy. Taking a piece, it appeared to be a licorice candy, although a hologram description beneath it explained that it would heal 10 HP. Spotting another SAVE star, Frisk hurried out. She really didn’t want to relive the puzzle handholding again.

_(Playfully crinkling through the leaves fills you with determination)_

Frisk : LV 1 : (00:50). Ruins – Leaf Pile

File Saved.

 

~

 

Sans never had the opportunity to explore the old ruins after the barrier had been broken. Everyone had been so excited to see the surface and it was a painful thought to go back underground to make the long trek to see where Frisk had fallen. Everything had returned to normal within a few months; Papyrus still made inedible spaghetti – although he had started to attend a human cooking class to somewhat improve his skills. Frisk attended Tori’s school that was open to both humans and monsters. Alphys and Undyne had plans to be officially married, and living in a fireproof house with a basement lab underneath. And Sans well … Sans never changed. He somehow found employment that allowed him to be as lazy as possible and still make enough to pay for his and Papyrus’s house.

Blood littered the room with a patch of burnt grass at the center. Hastily searching, Sans found so sign of a dead body, or anything really. A faintly glowing star at the base of the staircase captured Sans interest. Frisk had been the only one to have enough determination to use the power of RESET and SAVE after she fell; but she had only been able to use them, not study them or take them with her. He couldn’t modify the SAVE, but he could see the data within.

Frisk: LV 1 : (00:27). Ruins – Entrance.

Whatever had happened in the last room, she had survived it and hadn’t killed anything either. As he turned away, an identical save star appeared in his hand, almost weightless. Finding Frisks save data still embedded within, he secured it inside the puffy blue jacket and carried on

~

Only the fearless may proceed

Brave ones, foolish ones

Both walk not the middle road

Frisk had mentioned those same words to Sans once, when asked why she had never hurt another monster even though she had the means to do so. Frisk said she had never been fearless or brave, but maybe with a bit of her foolishness – she _had_ purposefully fallen down a hole in a mountain – she could fake the fearlessness until the end.

She had been the most fearless friend he’d ever known.

**_And that time is long gone. Pull yourself together, you bonehead._ **

Spikes were supposed to deter human children from solving puzzles according to Asgore, but Sans found they hadn’t deterred his Frisk at all. Teleporting across the spike room instead of bothering to solve it, a long hallway stretched out before him. A whisper of magic on the air, and Sans knew he was getting close to Frisk.

**_An angel … of mercy or death. Which will you be, Frisk?_ **

Frisk : LV 1 : (00:50). Ruins – Leaf Pile

 ** _Of mercy it was_**.

Clutching the second star and securing it with the first one; Sans followed the faint tug of power, guiding him to fate.


	7. The Weight of Your Sins

After falling through cracked floors and having to convince a rock to stay on a switch, Frisk was more than happy to find another save star. She began to notice that every time she saved, the world exploded with color, and a surge of magic flowed through her veins. The hearts around her neck surged with power, and eventually died back down again.

**_More questions to ask Sans ..._ **

The tiny pinprick that belonged to the strange voice perked up slightly at the mention of Sans – admittedly Frisk hadn’t given much thought to him since she jumped. He’d already be back in his own timeline with his own Frisk, probably having already forgotten about her and the last forty-eight hours.

Ignoring the deep blush that spread across cheeks at the memory of being spun around in his magic, she savored the rush of magic.

_(Knowing the mouse might one day leave its hole and get the cheese ..._

_…it fills you with determination)_

Frisk : LV 1 : (1:05)

Ruins – Mouse Hole

File saved.

A piece of cheese was placed on a table, a mouse hole on the opposite wall. Frisk considered just bringing the cheese over for the mouse, but it had evidently been there for a long time since it refused to move.

**_Murderous flowers; save points, animated goat monsters … as far from normal human life as I could get._ **

**_/*giggle*_ **

**_Are you going to actually talk to me now?_ **

**_/Depends on how close you get to getting yourself killed_ **

With that, Frisk was alone again.

Frisk never had believed in ghosts, but she definitely wasn’t mistaking the monster that laid in the middle of the narrow path. The monster was pretending to sleep, but doing a pretty bad job since Frisk noticed every time they glanced over at her. The only option they had was to move it with force, once again resulting in FIGHT.

The ghosts name turned out to be Nabstablook. Frisk gave them a smile and made them laugh all while dodging the tears that fell from Nabstablooks eyes. Surprising Frisk, it ended with Napstablook making a top hat of his tears calling it “Dapper Blook”.

“today … I met somebody nice” Frisk heard him whisper, before he disappeared from view.

“Today, we both met somebody nice” Frisk replied in the desolate hall.

 

~

 

Frisk had just enough money for a spider doughnut – apparently made by spiders, for spiders … _of_ spiders. Revolted, she stuck it at the bottom of her bag, hoping to never have to eat it unless she truly needed it. Frisk solved the mystery of the ant sized frog; the puzzle of the four identical rooms and the lever under the cracked floor. Frisk wondered just how much she had truly cheered Nabstablook up, since she found him lying on the floor again while looking for the lever.

“I fell down a hole… now I can’t get up…go on without me… wait, ghosts can fly can’t they? Oh well…”

Frisk chuckled as he disappeared again.

**_/All fun and games until you realize you can’t kill a ghost_ **

**_Wait, what?_ **

And so the mysterious voice was gone again.

A faded ribbon covered in dust, laid in the last staircase. Frisk shook it, surprised it didn’t fall apart in her hand. Clipping it in her hair she hoped that the end of the ruins was close. Although she’d seen the time she spent underground when saving -it _said_ she’d been down here for just over an hour - it felt like it’d been over a day.

A fork in the road impeded her progress, but the wafting smell of pie and the sound of her grumbling stomach showed her where to go.

“My child!” Toriel exclaimed as soon as Frisk found the source of the pie.

“How did you get here? Are you hurt?” The thrum of magic danced along Frisks skin, healing the minor scrapes she got in the last few fights

“It took a lot longer than expected, I shouldn’t have tried-“

Frisks rumbling stomach made itself known once again.

Toriel chuckled. “Come in my child, I have a surprise for you”

A large tree stood at the entrance, leaves scattered around the trunk.

“Toriel, is there something wrong with this tree?”

“It is … a very old reminder of what used to be, my child” A wistful look on her face as she walked inside.

Another save star glinted on the side of the house, and Frisk wondered just how, or if they were ever going to serve a purpose besides telling her a location and how long she’d been underground.

 

_(Seeing such a cute, tidy house in the RUINS, fills you with determination)_

Frisk : LV 1 : (1:30)

Ruins - Home

File Saved.

 

~

 

A mouth-watering mix of butterscotch and cinnamon filled the air inside the house.

“Surprise! I made something to celebrate your arrival. I will hold off of snail pie for tonight, I … want you to have a nice time living here, Frisk. Follow me, I have another surprise for you.” Toriel said as she departed down the hallway to the right.

The house was very … bright. Pots of buttercups and bookcases took up most of the space along with a staircase to the basement. A pleasant fireplace beside a worn reading chair, and a table set for 3 in the living room gave Frisk a strange feeling like … being home.

**_Maybe just … one … night wouldn’t hurt._ **

Following Toriel, she walked Frisk down the narrow hall.

“A room of your own, I hope you like it!” She tousled Frisks hair, claiming the smell of something burning needed her attention.

The room was bright and cheerful – but definitely designed for younger kids. Worn toys stood at the base of the bed; a closet full of eerily similar striped shirts, a chest of various sized kids shoes and a dusty photo frame echoed of lost inhabitants.

Frisk sat on the edge of the bed, exhaustion overwhelming her as her head hit the pillow. She was overdue for a nice long…

 

~

**_“I BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN DO A LITTLE BETTER!_ **

**_EVEN IF YOU DON’T THINK SO! I – I PROMISE!”_ **

**_A red, dusty scarf floated in the wind_ **

**_~_ **

**_Hiding behind a convenient lamp_ **

**_Promising a snowman that you’d show a piece of him the world_ **

**_~_ **

**_Watching the murderous fish as she melted and turned to dust from your final blow_ **

**_Silent echo flowers_ **

**_A call for an evacuation_ **

**_~_ **

**_Hearing of a mysterious echo flower_ **

**_Learning of a promise made to keep you safe_ **

**_Having to FIGHT with no chance for MERCY_ **

**_~_ **

**_The feeling of a familiar knife, just out of r e a c h-_ **

Frisk screamed, and found herself soaked in a cold sweat. She was sitting in an alleyway, a plastic knife in front of her. She gingerly picked it up, placing the trusty stick in her bag. If there was any place to go but back to the ruins, she couldn’t see it.

Toriel was sitting in her chair, reading a book on snails.

“Good morning, my child! I trust you slept well?”

Frisk mumbled a reply “Tor-Mom- how do I get out of the ruins?”

Frisk wasn’t sure where that came from, but it certainly wasn’t from her train of thoughts.

A look of happiness and despair flitted across Toriels face.

“My child, this is your home now. I’ll be preparing your education, I’ll show you my favorite bug hunting sp-“

“Please Mom, I-“

She stood abruptly, and made her way down the staircase to the basement, Frisk fast on her heels.

“Ahead of us lie the RUINS; a one-way exit to the underground, I am going to destroy it. No one will ever leave me again”

“Every human that falls down here has the same fate. They come, they leave. They die”

“Do not try and stop me. This is your final warning”

Toriel stood in front of her exit; resigned anger and hurt crowding out the temporary happiness that had lived there.

As her soul was pulled from her chest, Frisk noticed with horror that deep gashes of dark red resided within.

**_/*giggles*_ **

**_/That would be me_ **

**_/You IDIOT_ **

No longer in control of her own movements, Frisk watched as her hand raised the toy knife and plunged it into Toriels heart.

“*heh, kid’

Her body whirled to find the source of the unexpected sound. There stood Sans, his magic immobilizing Frisk.

The sound of crumbling dust; something about the weight of sins and a hushed whisper of an apology were the last things she heard before a bone became embedded through Frisks chest.

 

**R E S E T**

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh, this was /supposed/ to be a happy fanfic, I swear. Hopefully we'll get back to that soon.


	8. Crawling Up Your back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Resets hurt.  
> Sans is adorable.  
> Frisk is Frisk.  
> Let's start the catching of feelings, shall we?

It had been a hell of a long time since Sans had to endure the pain of a reset. The merging memories melded like fire, while a chill crept over his bones. He’d forgotten how those fevered crimson eyes froze his soul, how it always ended with Frisks death, and for a while – his own. He’d never met the first human that had fallen, only known them when they’d possessed Frisk. She’d sworn that Chara wasn’t really evil; that Frisks determination had woken her from her grave, and became involuntarily attached to her. When Frisk became weak, Chara was there to help her leave the underground – even if it meant a genocide.

Frisk had never really remembered the previous timelines. Occasionally she would get flashbacks during nightmares, but they had always felt like they were looking in from behind a fog and never really clear. They’d even disappeared completely when they got to surface. Sans however couldn’t escape them; there was no filter, no relief from the flashes of his dead loved ones. They’d always ended with the final fight in the final corridor, with Sans ready to judge her for every sin.

Most times, she had never gained LOVE or EXP but she had gained the love of everyone in the underground. Every-time, she’d been prepared to give up her soul to free those she loved, her determination red and pure and her heart full of mercy.

 

~~*~~

 

The first timeline that Chara had taken over, Sans had flown into a rage with more drive to get that damn machine fixed than he ever had. But more and more reports had come in that monsters were dying left and right; first Papyrus, then Undyne and eventually Mettaton. The silence was deafening as he’d made his way to the judgement hall, dust scattered around the underground and not a soul in sight.

A locket around her neck and a dusty knife in her hand was all it had taken for her to decimate the entire underground. He’d killed her hundreds of times, although he’d lost track after the first dozen. At one point, he’d seen a familiar expression cross Charas face – one that Frisk had won many times before. And so he offered mercy, and so they accepted. They had looked so _so_ happy to finally have to stop fighting, and as the knife had fallen to the floor, Sans had talked about how if they had ever really been a friend to them – to leave and never come back – and so he killed them once again hoping for a true reset. And when his eyes opened to the golden hues of the judgement hall again, he knew the kid would never stop trying even if it meant dying a few more hundred times. With his Gaster Blasters at the ready they resumed their dance…

He’d thrown everything he had at the kid, but little by little she had begun to memorize his attacks, often dodging them completely. He was tired to the _bone_ and all he wanted to do was sleep and forget this nightmare, so that’s what he did. Maybe – hopefully – when she finally killed him, he’d get to see Papyrus again even just for one m o r e h u g…

“397. Is the number of times you’ve killed me. Now it’s _your_ turn” Chara said as she finally made contact with the knife, slicing across his ribs.

**_Finally. It’s finally fucking over._ **

Chara stepped over him, on her way to the throne room, with barely a backwards glance to the fallen skeleton.

He kneeled in a puddle of his own leaking DETERMINATION, waiting for the world to end.

“*Heh”

And there stood Papyrus in front of him and all his friends – even his Frisk – where they all exclaimed that he finally made it.

“BROTHER” Papyrus exclaimed, pulling him into a giant hug “I’VE MISSED YOU! EVERYONE HAS MISSED YOU!”

“*So did I, Paps. So did I … do you want anything from Grillbys?”

_Sans_

The world faded around him, the last thing he saw was Paps grinning face – so _so_ happy to see him again -and just like that it was gone. His magic flared with newfound grief, the void cackling as blue sparks surrounded him.

_I have one last gift for you_

“*I DON’T WANT YOUR GIFT. I WANT TO GO-“

Sans knees buckled and writhed on the floor in agony, his magic growing in intensity and filling the void until it nearly blinded him.

As he felt the cold tickle of snow on his face, he realized he was back at the exit of the ruins.

_Forgive me … brother_

A whisper in the wind, he told himself. Monsters could be heard talking amongst themselves and Papyrus was NYEH HEH HEH’ing in the distance. But he felt strange, as if he could just mold his magic and – time stood still.

 

~~*~~

 

And somehow, after all the shit that he had to endure, the murderous bitch was _still_ here – still polluting Frisks soul and taking possession of her body. He checked the last star he had picked up, luckily she had SAVED before Chara had truly started taking over.

Frisk : LV 1 : (1:30)

Ruins - Home

The one thing he had on his side was time – time he wouldn’t be able to get back by moving between timelines any more if he screwed up. It was nearing dusk, and Frisk had needed sleep after going almost a whole day without it. Using a shortcut to just outside the house, he made sure the coast was clear before he stepped into her room and sunk down to the floor, waiting for a sign of Chara during Frisks sleep.

 

~

 

The feeling of déjà vu and a splitting headache left Frisk momentarily dazed. It felt like she had ripped from and placed back into her body, but she couldn’t remember it happening. Shaking it off, she went into the house – but the sudden cheeriness wasn’t as shocking and instead … familiar. Being led down the hallway, seeing the abandoned shoes and toys – all but screamed at her that she’d seen this place before. Many questions intruded her thoughts, but they were all forgotten as soon as she flopped onto the bed – too tired to notice the silent figure slip in to sit on the opposite side of the room.

 

~

 

“ ** _I didn’t expect to see you so soon, smiley trashbag”_**

Chara wanted to get a rise out of him, and it was _so delicious_ to see the rage emanate from his bony figure. It wasn’t really _her_ body or _her_ soul, but it felt just as real. He rose in an instant; the familiar stillness of time hung in the air, Frisks soul was turned blue and a Gaster Blaster appeared pointed at her chest.

 ** _“Are you ready to dance again, Sansy?”_** she asked, as a cackle rose from her depths, her eyes red as blood.

 

~

“Sans? Could you uh-“

In an instant Frisk was back, her eyes resuming their golden hue. She stared pointedly at the floating canine-like skull behind Sans’s head.

“*I was uh, having an unpleasant talk with a certain demon. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you kiddo?”

Sans sat on the edge of the bed, lazily drawing a circle with his thumb on her exposed foot. Sensing the lack of immediate danger the lone blaster zoomed down to the rug in the middle of the floor, and drifted off to sleep while keeping one eye lazily focused on Frisk.

“They saved me from death” she mumbled

**_Yet they caused your last one, sweetheart._ **

He snorted “* _They_ also managed to get you killed”

Her face contorted in confusion “How would you know?”

**_Fuck_ **

Sighing, he turned to face her and pulled his soul from his chest, an aqua hue painting the room

“Do you recognize this color Frisk?”

 

~

 

Her breath caught in her throat at the sheer intensity of the light. She fingered the blue pendant around her neck while glancing between him and the heart.

“*That heart around your neck is mine – or once was mine”

“And I have it because…?”

“*In case of emergency” Sans hissed through his teeth “Such as last night”.

His blackened eyes told her everything they needed to.

 

~

 

She’d recoiled from him so fast he almost missed it. Ensuring his soul was back in his chest, he wrapped her in a reluctant hug.

“*… For what it’s worth, I’m sorry Frisk” he whispered into her hair.

He thought he’d forgotten the feeling a thousand timelines ago, but the sin of her death at his hands still crawled up his back.

“Did I do something wrong, Sans?”

**_Only killed the person who’s trying to protect you in cold blood._ **

He pulled away, enveloping her hands with his. “*Do you trust me?”

Glancing between where his heart would be and back again, she nodded.

He placed a hand against her chest and slowly drew her soul out, crimson flooding the room. A jagged scar of dark red down the middle froze him to the bone.

**_Chara’s mark._ **

She winced when he touched the edge of the mark – sending hot red sparks across his fingertips. He smirked, hoping it would cover up how painfully scared he was of fucking this up. Funneling his magic into the mark, he became oblivious to anything but the essence of Frisk. Flashes of random humans and houses ran through his mind, loneliness crashed down upon him while a sliver of hope and determination spread in its place. Painful longing filled every bone in his skeletal body, and a glance at her blushing face told him he wasn’t alone. He gingerly led her marked soul back into her body, a moment of awkwardness tainting the air.

Time began to move again, a breath of fresh air that they both needed.

“What happens n-“ a yawn interrupting her

“*Sleep. Sleep is what happens now, kid”

She nodded sleepily, covering up with the down blanket.

“Don’t leave”

Smiling at yet another yawn that came from Frisk, he resumed his position against the wall hoping that a return from Chara wouldn’t happen again tonight.

“I won’t”

**_Sweetheart._ **

****


End file.
